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In addition to the zip files linked below, mahlzeit has added a feature to his program that creates an online streaming player. Just click on the link to hear all the recital pieces without having to download the zip files:

For the convenience of forum members, mahlzeit's program has normalized the files for consistent volume and standardized the ID3 tags in a collection of zip files. This makes it easier to create personal CDs and playlists.

Let me express my greatest thanks to five very special people: mr_super-hunky for coming up with the idea of our online recitals, which have proven to be more successful than any of us ever dreamed; Bob Muir for working out the technical details of pulling together the recital and doing so tirelessly for the first six, count 'em, six, recitals; LaValse for hosting the zip files and recital software on his server; Copper for also hosting the zip files and trouble-shooting help; and last but not least, mahlzeit for writing the absolutely fantastic web-based recital program that we are using. THANK YOU MAHLZEIT!!!

The vast majority of my experience is through self-teaching. I took lessons for 2-1/2 years as an adolescent, 6 months as an adult until resuming lessons again 1 month ago. My teacher is a great motivator.

Mikhail Glinka wrote this lovely Nocturne in 1828, the same year that Chopin wrote his first Nocturne. It's a very romantic, very sweet piece, with some unusual, dissonant harmonies adding a bittersweet touch.The main difficulties in this Nocturne are the many twos against threes, some of which I played nicely and the very pretty run of ten against six at 3:08.You can download the score at: http://www.piano.ru/glinka.html(the sixth link: Íîêòþðí) The Nocturne seems to speak of love and gentleness and beauty.I hope you like it.

FP-7 Line-Out to Line-In on built in motherboard sound. Recorded in Ardour in Ubuntu Linux.

Critical feedback wanted:

Yes

Additional info:

This piece was really a workout for me when I first started. The right hand stays really busy. I could only play through a few times at first before having to stop. That problem no longer exists. Hopefully I'll get a non-Einaudi piece for one of these recitals at some point. I just don't really have a sheet music collection to work from yet, sorry.

I've been lurking around the forum for the past year since I resumed lessons and decided to take the plunge in submitting a piece. I haven't learned the Fugue part yet. I'm pretty nervous about this submission but if I don't do this now, I'll probably never work up the courage to submit again.

I made a recording of this piece for the ABF Chopin Etude recital on October 17. Since I haven't had time to finish any other piece I decided to make a new recording of the same etude for this recital. I don't know if I'm getting better or worse...but this is a good way to keep the piece in my fingers.

Digital to PC, and then rendered using Garritan Steinway Standard. Audacity used to normalise the signal a bit.

Critical feedback wanted:

Yes

Additional info:

It's a fairly unknown tune by Polish movie composer, Andrzej Kurylewicz. It was the main theme from "Polskie drogi" ("Polish roads"). I have a great sentiment towards this melody and I am very happy I can share it with you.

I had this tune running through my head to the point it was driving me crazy so it was a great relief to get the lyrics written and finally record the song. The thought I had as I wrote it was of a musical number. The protaganist has been abandoned by his girl and after weeks of hiding away in his apartment begins to imagine what it might be like were he the last man alive. I did a number of takes and a few had better piano work but I chose the one that I felt had the best overall feel.

I am not very familiar with hymns, and I had never heard this hymn before listening to David Nevue's latest album. But I thought this arrangement was just lovely, and it was a challenging piece to learn (and not just for the two measures of staccato ), so I thought I'd use it for the recital. Most of it is considerably faster than my normal new age fare, so it's been a good training exercise for my fingers.

This is an improvisation on 'Just Friends' changes (John Klenner). Don't go looking for the melody, it ain't there because of copyright. This is transcribed from Mike Ledonne's piano arrangements (whom I try to imitate). Bass is Dennis Irwin on Bass and Kenny Washington on Drums.

Well, this piece has been recorded quite a few times, but I like it very much and I wanted to give it a try.I found it difficult while listening to it the very first time, then easy once I started learning it, and, finally, difficult again while trying to get (nearly) the sound I wanted to have.

My first recital entry! This is a little piece that hints at the approaching cold season for many of us. I played straight from the score in this rendition and it's begging for a middle improv section but I didn't have the guts to record it for this recital... had a brisket sandwich at a great local BBQ joint, City Barbecue.

I used a dinky little microphone that came with an old, long gone computer, recorded into a laptop, then normalized and removed noise with Audacity. Sorry about the clipping. And in the interest of full disclosure, there's an edit in the last section. I hope that's not cheating, but you really wouldn't have wanted to hear it otherwise!

I realize that this piece has been submitted many times before. All the better to get my playing critically evaluated, since everyone is familiar with it. After all, isn’t that what the Adult Beginner’s Form Recital is all about?

This piece is my greatest accomplishment so far. Thank you to Monica K and bluekeys for inspiring me to learn it. This is living proof that PianoWorld recitals are beneficial. It wasn’t as easy as you said, bluekeys, and for a while I was mad at you because of it, but I finally learned it and now we’re friends again. Thanks for your encouragement.

During the past three months I have experienced my greatest gains ever on the piano, partly because of the following two experiences:

1 - I completed a workshop in fear anxiety. The result is that I have successfully performed this same piece in front of an audience of ten people. This is tremendous progress for me since only three months ago I could not play even simpler music for a single person due to my nervousness.

2 - I now have a piano teacher. The progress I have made in suppressing my performance anxiety has allowed me to play comfortably in front of a teacher. But I admit that this is not just any piano teacher. She is very patient, seems genuinely sensitive to my nervousness, and in our short time together we have made real progress. I suspect Betty Patnude will be pleased. And Betty, I know you won’t believe this but this teacher claims that I’m not a difficult student to deal with at all. Isn’t that amazing?

Obviously, this recording wouldn't be fit for public display in any other setting, but it's called the adult BEGINNER's forum, so here I am.

The piece itself is lovely, in my opinion. It has this old-fashioned charm and gentle humor that seems quite incompatible with certain modern tastes where noise and laughter from the tape replace wit. But I digress...

When I chose the piece, the music sheet looked easy ( only 3 pages, a few 16th notes, no obvious tricky patterns ). Boys, I was wrong. The appergios changes every measures, so the fingerings don't repeat and all over the place. For a people who plays by memory like me, it is hard. The result is that the record is not really smooth, but that is all I can manage for now. The morning dreams sounds like a nightmare to me

I recorded this in one take. I did not play the repeats, so it is shorter than it really ought to be. I liked learning to do the ornaments. This piece is full of cross hands--the right hand jumping down to play the low notes--and it is lots of fun to play.

The most popular and frequently played (and sung) of all Jewish folk songs.

"Hava Nagila" translates to "Let Us Rejoice" and is a song of celebration heard everywhere: weddings, bar mitzvahs, festivals, harvests, etc. - perhaps even at divorces and funerals! It is almost always danced to in swirling, interweaving, highly synchronized (and very energetic) movements that simply radiate sheer joy and exuberance.

I had an infrequent struggle with the infamous and dreaded red dot on this one - got very frustrated - said the hell with it - went for it one last time and here's the result: lacking in polish and finese but overflowing with enthuisiasm and "hutsva" (sp.?). This is probably the 2nd most fun I've ever had while sitting down.

Regards and enjoy, JF - and Hava Nagila! - or as the very old, stale joke goes: have two Nagilas! Mazel Tov.

I love this song so much! I made it shorter because my hands grew tired, but I tried to keep the general spirit of the song. I recorded this a month ago, but it is so special to me that I wanted it to be in this recital.